ABOUT US

Everyone, everywhere, all at once.

That is the quality of attention that the climate crisis requires.
It demands a groundswell of engaged citizens calling for change and indeed, participating in their own daily behavioural change.

How do we energise this groundswell?

We leverage the oldest & most effective human form of knowledge transfer – storytelling in community .

All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) is India’s premiere showcase of today’s climate stories.
Through pay-as-you-feel global online streaming & in-person community screenings, our audience witnesses untold stories of regeneration, activism, crisis and hope.

OUR VISION

All Living Things Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) catalyses widespread transformative climate action in India.

OUR MISSION

Through the emotive power of cinema, ALT EFF increases climate awareness at scale. We curate impact storytelling and experiential learning that is accessible, relevant and inspires awareness into action.

OUR TEAM

KUNAL KHANNA

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Born into the mad hum in Mumbai, raised amongst the monkeys and mountains of Panchgani, and made independent in an adulthood in Australia; Kunal has returned back to his roots running a permaculture farm and developing ALT EFF to become a catalyst for environmental change in India. While he started his career as an economist, and founded a food truck serving the festival circuit in Melbourne; his true passion lies in systems thinking and using that to enable paradigm shifts which he did while working as the Innovations Lead at the City of Melbourne.

LAURA KHANNA

FESTIVAL PRODUCER

Laura Christie Khanna is owner of The Odd Gumnut Permaculture Farm & Rise Up Kombucha, India’s only zero-waste kombucha brand. She’s a food sovereignty advocate, permaculture teacher and thought-leader in regenerative lifestyle, teaching workshops on chemical free living, natural farming and fermentation to thousands of folks in person and online.

@theoddgumnut @laurachristiekhanna

NEHA SHRESTHA

CO-FOUNDER

Neha is creatively curious and finds inspiration in nature. Her longing for creative experimentation and exploration led her to study design at Srishti (Bangalore), where she specialised in film making and her work was curated under the “Labour in a single shot” project by filmmaker Harun Farocki.
After an Assistant Director stint with Amol Gupte, she conceptualised ‘Tribling’ - a brand of wearable art jewellery, inspired by raw nature. She is Co-Founder of Network of Creative Thinkers, a design agency in the hills of Panchgani with a virtual workplace in cloud that crafts creative solutions.

RUDRANSH MATHUR

CO-FOUNDER

Brought up in the hill station of Panchgani, Rudransh’s interest in nature and wildlife was sparked right from his childhood when he won the CMS Vatavaran Golden Tree award for his film “Birds Through my Window” at the age of 13.
An adventure enthusiast, he has spent the past 4 years mapping out the hidden forest trails of Mahabaleshwar on his mountain bike.
Rudransh is also a co-founder of Network of Creative Thinkers, a design agency that uses creative thinking to solve problems for clients spread across the globe.

ANAKA KAUNDINYA

PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR

Anaka is an award-winning creative producer, writer and curator. Her education in law and journalism have grounded her work in media & the arts as trauma-informed and systems-focused.
Having embraced a number of curiosities with gusto, Anaka’s work isn’t bound by media or form. She thrives in long-term creative projects, engaging most deeply with culture, decoloniality, ecology and gender. More on anakido.net
At the heart of it all, she is a ravenous dilettante with unbridled love for the natural world.

NAMAN ROY

EVENTS AND COMMUNITY MANAGER

Naman is a theatre practitioner and a creative thinker who applies his practice in the conventional and unconventional spaces.
A seasoned actor, his roles are many: A clown on streets, an orator on stage, a teacher in class, and a troubleshooter at events and festivals .
His passion lies in spicy food and humble beings.

ISHA TOMAR

ASSISTANT PROGRAMMING

Isha is a film studies researcher who received her master's in Media and Cultural Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Prior to that, she did her bachelor’s in Economics from Symbiosis School of Economics, Pune. Born and brought up in Kolkata, Isha believes in the power of the visual medium and has been enchanted by it since she was a kid. She is a strong advocate of climate change activism and sustainable living. During her free time, she loves to read, go for walks, and explore the world of cinema.

ALICIA ESTEBAN

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

Alicia is a designer, motion grapher and illustrator who is passionate about plastic arts. She has experience as a graphic designer in advertising companies and in environmental projects such as Reduplastic, a Spanish plastic recycling organization.
Since she was little, she has been motivated by different arts, forms of expression and the challenge of representing ideas from different perspectives. She is also passionate about traveling and seeing the world.

ZOHA MAHDI

COMMUNICATION MANAGER

Zoha has been working in marketing communication for over ten years, specializing in content marketing, advertising, and branding. She has pivoted her skills to the space of conservation with an interest in mainstreaming dialogues on environment with a socio-ecological lens.

RISHI CHARAN

WEBSITE AND EVENTIVE DESIGN

Armed with a Telecommunications degree from the University of Maryland, Rishi once navigated the complexities of sattelite communication and computer networks. But destiny had other plans, guiding him to the serene hills of Panchgani, where he discovered his true calling: the vibrant world of UX design. Now, as a designer by choice, he uses his analytical skills and creative flair to turn ideas into user-centered designs.
When he's not designing, he's obsessing over sunflowers and sweaters, having existential crisis at all times and trying to manifest a winter wonderland life. Picture an anxious hypochondriac goofball who constantly feels like the main character of an imaginary movie.

NEHA BAPAT

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

Neha is a communication designer and illustrator with a passion for creating stories through visuals. A recent graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Mumbai, she believes in the power of design to captivate and influence audiences.
Art has been Neha's playground since childhood. Outside of design, she likes upcycling clothes and trying out new things like screen printing among other things. She makes sure that every project she works on is not just aesthetically pleasing and functional, but also kind to the world.

OUR VOLUNTEERS

Theres Thomas

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Theres works as a Research Assistant at the Asia Society Policy Institute, focusing on the Indian Carbon Market. She also has experience in generating evidence and estimating the employment potential of climate action through Nature-based Solutions such as seaweed cultivation, mangrove restoration, eco-tourism, etc. Outside of work, she enjoys watching world cinema, trying new cuisines, and swimming. She is an avid coffee drinker who recently discovered that she is lactose intolerant after all.
Shreya Agarwal

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Shreya is a creative and inquisitive film enthusiast. At the risk of sounding like a quintessential filmbro, Shreya loves films and pop culture runs deep through her work and life. A psychology graduate, Shreya believes that the personal is political and is always open to engaging with gender, society, culture and their various intersections. Shreya is as dynamic a person as her taste in films and music, from dissecting the latest indie flick to beating everyone at a bollywood quiz.
Sachin

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Sachin is a researcher and a cinephile. Currently doing his PhD in Cinema Studies from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. His research area lies at the intersection of cinema, media, elemental ecology, and space(s). He understands cinema as a sensorial media which can (un)form perceptions and habitats in long durations. He writes occasionally for online magazines and also works at an archival and research center of Indian Cinema. In his free time you can find him at eateries of Delhi or glued to his screen watching films
Prakhar Patidar

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Prakhar is a film scholar-practitioner in training, exploring everything cinema from craft to criticism in preparation for research in cinema and culture as an incoming doctoral candidate in the UK. These endeavours include being a director’s assistant at Fazeli Films, a research associate (Visibilising the Role of Women in Cinema | IFA), a co-founder and regular contributor to Cut, and Print! newsletter, a creator of an independent world cinema podcast called Around the World in 8mm, working with film festivals and pondering about that book she’ll write one day! Her work has been shortlisted for the Rama Mehta Writing Grant (2022 and 2023), Rashid Irani Young Critic’s Lab (Jio MAMI 2023) and Curation Workshop, ARCUREA, SRFTI (2024).
If you’re curious about more, find it here: https://linktr.ee/prakhar_does_things
Prachi Patwari

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Prachi, a psychology graduate and law degree holder, is an avid nature lover who could spend an entire day looking at a flower. While working at a renowned rehabilitation centre and the psychiatry department of Sion Hospital, Mumbai, examining people from all strata of society, the definition of mental health for her became quite interlinked with the environment people live in and their relationship with nature. Currently immersing herself in the creative world as a theatre artist and cinema enthusiast, she believes cinema is a strong medium to provide an immersive experience of the pressing climate crisis, hence her association with ALT EFF. A side of her is headed to become a headstrong environment advocate. When feeling low, she can be found strolling around vegetable markets or sitting in a garden with a book. Prachi is mostly dancing in both happy and low moods!
Debanjan Dhar

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
Having recently completed his master's in English, Debanjan is currently freelancing as an entertainment columnist/editor for various websites. Besides keenly covering film festivals throughout the year, he is obsessed with closely tracking South Asian independent cinema, from incubation to distribution.
Bhavesh Prasad

PROGRAMMING VOLUNTEER
When it comes to thinking, he grew up habituating himself to think in film as a language. Apart from the emotional rush of thinking, his brains cannot unwrap anything but treatment styles and typecast choices of filmmakers. But don't mistake him for a film-buff. He's a mise-en-scène buff, who enjoys times he practices visual dramaturgy. Yet, when the dread of reality sets in, he assisted directors, sound designers, editors, producers and even colourists, prior to 2021. These days he's taken to writing, scripts & things unexplored.
Priyanka Ganwani

SOCIAL MEDIA VOLUNTEER
Priyanka is a podcast and digital content producer from Mumbai city. Flora, fauna and distinct creatures fascinate her and urge her to explore the landscape of the country.
There are chances you’ll find her napping with earphones.
Subodh Uniyal

SOCIAL MEDIA VOLUNTEER
Brought up in the hills of Dehradun, Subodh is currently based in Delhi and working with brands, helping them with creative media production.
Being an adventure enthusiast, Subodh has a keen interest for travelling & cycling in the mountains. He finds himself sketching, exploring and unfolding nature in his free time. Fueled by a deep passion for the environment and the fight against climate change, he found his calling with ALT EFF.

ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Mike H Pandey

Dr. Pandey is an environmentalist, naturalist, wildlife conservationist and filmmaker. For 18 years, he presented India’s national programme ‘Earth Matters’.
He was named ‘Hero of the Environment’ by Times Magazine and ‘Son of the Earth’ by the UN. Amongst his awards he counts 3 Green Oscars.

Sophy Visvaraman

Sophy is the co-founder and chief executive of the Indian Documentary Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that was founded with the aim to promote and develop documentaries in India and about India. Sophy strategizes impact campaigns for documentary filmmakers and helps raise funding for outreach activities. Sophy is currently on the advisory board of Dhai Akshar – a non-profit that uses art, and culture-based curriculum to educate street kids and an Advisory Board Member with SOBA at NMIMS ( School of Branding & Advertising ).

Pooja Jauhari

Pooja is the CEO of The Glitch, one of India's top 5 creative agencies. Her mission is to run a high performance gender inclusive workplace. Pooja has been featured as IMPACT’s top 50 influential women of 2018, 2019 and 2020, IMPACT 40 under 40 and on the Campaign Asia A List.

Datta Dave

Datta Dave is the co-founder of Tulsea, a strategic talent and content management company which represents and advises India's leading content creators. Tulsea's clients work across platforms including motion pictures, television, new media, and publishing. The company is dedicated to identifying emerging creative talent that will be tomorrow's premier storytellers.